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tv   Weekend News  Al Jazeera  February 13, 2016 12:00pm-12:31pm EST

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>> turkey targets kurdish fighters inside syria. hello, i'm david foster, also in al jazeera, egypt's president said that he will hand power back to parliament and that no, sir has been restored. now the pope this a country dominated by catholics has done something that non-of his predecessors have managed to do. plus... >> an i'm in florida in the
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everglades where the burmese python hunt is underway and why they're so eagle for get rid of yet another invasive species. >> any pause of fighting agreed by world powers this week will happen. russia's foreign minister said that the deal is more likely to fail than succeed. global leaders have been meeting for syria's war at the top of the agenda. and they're covering events for us, dominic kane live for us in munich. it is easy to see how there are those on both sides who think this is going a little chance of success when you see how many disagreements there are over the targets that have been picked for attacks by both sides. >> that's right, david, for the past two days, the aftermath of thursday night, friday morning's
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agreement on a sensation of hostilities has been the talking point here. today no different. today we've heard from a succession of leaders, foreign ministers about precisely this issue. and specifically today we heard from the french prime minister basically saying that the russian bombing in his words, the russian bombing of civilians had to stop there is still a very significant sky very generals of opinion on syria. >> only a short while after the agreement on syria was reached
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in this city, the u.s. secretary of state was back in munich, for a security conference. although some politicians had held thursdays deliberations as as a step forward others expressed extreme skepticism. in his address to the conference. john kerry addressed that skepticism by stressing out critical it is to make the cessation of hostilities work. >> this conflict will still require a political solution at some point in time, in order to make peace, no matter what happens. this is the moment. this is a hinge point, decisions made in the coming days and weeks, and few months, could end the war in syria, or it could define a very difficult set of choices for the future. >> reporter: quite how difficult is clear from the remarks senior russian minister have his been making in munich.
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moscow is fundamental to any diplomatic solution in syria. but the prime minister says, his country is feeling increasingly isolated. >> translator: one could go as far as to say that we have slit back to a new cold war. almost on an every-day basis we are called one of the most terrible threats either to nato as a whole or to europe or to the united states. >> reporter: the russians stress that they have national interests in syria. and that they have no secret agenda. they have repeatedly denied that they are bombing civilians there. the humanitarian tragedy syria has suffered for the past five years has been highlighted by aid agencies and human rights groups alike. hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced both inside and outside syria. >> i think the underlying crisis we are dealing with is a leadership crisis. when we talk about the refugee crisis, we have to remember that the only moment it became a
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global refugee crisis is when the refugees started going to europe. suddenly it's become global. it's been going on for five years. it's in different parts of the world. so what needs to happen, we need to give the protection, the international protections which these people, who are fleeing from war and persecution, deserve and are entitled to. >> reporter: why there may well be international support a peaceful way out of the syria crisis, at the same time there are signs that regional players like turkey and saudi arabia, are readying their forces for ground operations. and, david, let's rep that yesterday the saudi foreign minister made very clear that he and his country believe that mr. al-assad is responsible for the tragedy unfolding in syria and we also heard from the iranian foreign minister who said the only solution would be if people respected the differences and tried to find a paradigm shift in which everyone could work together. but as we are seeing here today at the security conference,
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there are still wide differences between many of the important powers who will be instrumental, if it is possible, in minding a solution to the syria crisis. >> and that is dominic kane there in munich talking about the syria crisis on the ground in syria government forces supported by the russians to which we have referred are getting closer to encircling opposition forces in aleppo. the massive city in the north of syria. zeina khodr have more from the turkey-syria boarder. >> reporter: this high ground gives the syrian army and its allies an advantage. the main rebel supply line from the west to the northern countryside of aleppo is now within the range of fire. disrupting the supply line is not their only objective, it is not far from the only entrance to the opposition-controlled enclave in the decided city of aleppo. opposition fighters are trying to keep the roads open to prevent a siege of eastern
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aleppo where 10s of thousands of people live inside the city. rebel commanders say a proposed pause in the fighting will only benefit the government. >> translator: the battle for aleppo was cared out by the international community who call themselves friends of syria. we tell them we will not stop fighting until the bombardment stops and there will be no permanent ceasefire until the regime is toppled. >> reporter: the people of aleppo have come together to prepare for the possibility i've siege. doctors, activists, lawyers, journal assists, created what they call a united revolutionary front. and a call to arms has been answered by civilians, men of fighting age are now receiving training before what could be a major battle. >> translator: these men will join their brothers in the free syrian army, they will hold positions and join offensives, we will teach our enemy lessons they won't forget.
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>> reporter: for those in the opposition, the government's military campaign as cross the country and its recent battlefield gains will not force them to lay down their arms. there is opposition to a u.s.-russian plan agreed in munich to pause the fighting within a week. rebel commanders say it is unrealistic because russian airstrikes can continue to target isil and al qaeda-linked al-nusra front. they believe moscow will exploit the presence of those groups to continue targeting the rebels. the russian-backed government offensive has weakened groups considered by the west as moderate, they are strongest around aleppo. the southern province and the northern country side of homs. for the first time in years the opposition risks losing its heartland in the north and its line life the turkish border. but rebel commanders say the fall of aleppo won't be the end of the war. instead of direct confrontation, they plan to resort to irregular warfare to loosen the government's grip on the ground. zeina khodr, al jazeera,
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southern turkey. >> turkey has been targeting turkish fighters inside syria. shelling hit a town in the north of syria. the kurdish-armed group y.p.g. says two of its positions were targeted as zeina khodr has more near the boarder with syria. >> reporter: the y.p.g., the kudish armed group reported turkish artillery targeted their position at the air base as well as in the village in the province of aleppo. those are two positions which the kurds recently captured from the syrian opposition just a few days ago. a short while ago, state television here in turkey quoted security officials as saying, yes, artillery targeted it as well as the air base. it didn't provide anymore details. we do not know if there was a provocation, whether this is a form of retaliation, but clearly a dangerous development.
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in the past, turkey has fired shells across its border. but usually in retaliation after a shell lands on turkish soil, or if fighting is getting close to its border they fire shells as a deterrent, really. but just a few hours ago, before this incident happened, we heard the turkish prime minister make it very clear saying turkey will not hesitate to attack the y.p.g. inside syria, the way turkey has been attacking in the mountains and iraq. clear reference to the airstrikes, the turkish airstrikes that have been targeting p.k.k. positions in in northern iraq. in eye ram four civilians are said to be killed by army artillery fire. the city of fallujah west of baghdad, 10 others hurt, among them four children and two women. the military says it have targeting isil controlled rez encarnacion residential areas. they are west of fallujah. ♪
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♪ the president of egypt el-sisi has announced that he is handing some legislative authority back to parliament. his comments were made during an address to politicians in the capital cairo. victoria gatenby has that story. >> reporter: president abdel fattah el-sisi delivers his first ever speech to parliament. the country's last democratically elected lower house which was dominated by muslim brotherhood m.p.s was dissolved in 2012. since then all power has been in the hands of the president. but in his speech, sisi announced he was handing that power back. >> translator: the great people of egypt, i announce before you the representative of the people, the transfer of the ladies and gentlemen slate i have authority to the elected parliament. this is after it was held by the head of the executive authorities as an extraordinary measure forced upon us by
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circumstances. >> reporter: in theory this seems like a significant shift of power away from the president, but some question what it will mean in practice. >> it's just keeping for the sake of keeping formalities. impact is that we are going to stay with one dominant power, which is the executive. nothing is going to be changed. >> reporter: sisi says he wants to transform egypt in to a modern democratic state. but to many life seems to be getting worse, not better. on friday, thousands of doctors in cairo protested against police brutality after two of their colleagues were reportedly beaten up by the police. sisi didn't mention the doctors' demonstration but did praise egypt's security forces. >> translator: the army and the braves are paying a high price of blood and sacrificing their souls to protection the nation. >> reporter: sisi's attempts to improve egypt's image abroad have also been damaged recently by the death of an italian student who was tortured and
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killed in cairo. the italian government is demanding answers. when sisi became president, he promised nationwide security and economic stability. but violence has surged in the sinai peninsula, human rights watch says more than 800 people were killed there in 2014. and the world bank says egypt's economy is not growing quickly enough to absorb the country's rapidly growing population and workforce. during his speech, sisi was optimistic about egypt's future but many egyptians are not. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. al-shabab says it was behind an explosion that punched a hole in an airliner over somalia last week killing one person. the armed group which has close links with al qaeda says the attack was retribution for what it calls crimes by the west against muss in somalia. the suspected suicide bomber was sucked out of the plane. well, adhere on this program on al jazeera.
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the protesters in haiti as the country struggles to name a temporary president. and. >> reporter: i am agent run soi in nairobi. this looks like money, but it's not. i'll be telling you how people in this community are using it.
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♪ ♪ and the top stories this hour. there are continuing doubts that a pause in fighting, even if it happens in syria, will go ahead. the agreement for cessation of
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hostilities was reached earlier in the week by world leaders meeting in munich. egypt's president sisi has said he is handing some legislative powers back to parliament. and al-shabab says it was behind an explosion that punch aid hole in an airliner over somalia last week killing one person. haiti's parliament is meeting right now to choose a tier president following last month's botched elections. there have been protesters. since the former president left office on sunday with no successor. some demonstrators fear he is trying to influence the process. and our reporter is in the capital port-au-prince, you were telling us about an hour ago it wasn't even certain that the parliamentary meeting could go said. what is the story there now? >> reporter: well, what we are hearing right now is that the national assembly should have convened about one hour ago, but until now we have seen very few
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congressmen and senators going inside this building. you see, this is a contested election. there is a large sector of the opposition that does not believe in this process. and that they don't believe in this parliament. they say it's fraudulent what is happening here and that they do not want to support this process at all. so we will have to see whether there is going to be quorum for this vote to take place. we also know that if this voting happens, it will be up to two men, one that has the support of the party, which is the strongest party in the country that has belonged to former president and, has lots of support amongst the poor but also a man that responds to his michelle, the former president. so we'll have to see whether this vote will happen at all. >> teresa, how come michelle, who previously incarnation was as a crooner, a pop singer and who had been in office for five years and knew his term was
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coming to an understand? how come he has left the country in such a mess? >> reporter: that's what many people here are country w wonde. they are still suffering the consequences of the earthquake. many still living in tents. there is about an 80% poverty rate. economy is a disaster many would say on the streets and they say him as a man that has basically benefited this country's poor in a country that has over 80% poverty rate. so obviously people see him as a man who is an out contract, who has -- out contract who has in a way made it impossible for election to his happen freely in the country. he has lots of powers we have heard rumors that he is trying to disrupt the process because there is a chance that his candidate will not win.
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so the former president can still pull lots of strings here. >> thank you, teresa bo there in port-au-prince. pope francis has become the first liter of the catholic church to enter mexico's palace there he met the president enrique peña neito. thousands of people lin lining e streets in mexico. the meeting is viewed as highly symbolic as none of this pope's president cesc soars were ever invited inside the palace even though heads of state are usually greeted there. the pope is expected to highlight the difficulties faced by migrants in the country and drugs-related violence. let's hear from adam raney, our man in mexico city. >> reporter: in the next few days, he's going to be challenging the government to rethink some of its strategy by the fact that he will be mentioning all these problems, corruption, massive waves of violence, thousands of people disappeared in this country. now, president enrico peña neito is a pretty savvy politician to
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immaterial right him not national palace to embrace pope francis because he's an extremely popular pope being the first pope from the western hemisphere so it does not harm to embrace him on this trip. regardless of the fact that pope francis will bring up all these uncomfortable issues. he will travel on sunday to a sprawling gritty, violent suburb on the periphery of mexico city. and for many it's a microcosm of mexico and it's problems. it has femicide, it has extortion, kidnapping, even corrupt police gangs who target innocent citizens to shake them down, to kidnap them. but also shows the possibility of mexico, it's full of hundreds of thousands of working class mexicans many that commute in to the city. he will be highlighting these problems and problem bills and after that he goes to meet with inning doubling let leaders, another first to reach out no these communities even celebrating a mass in indigenous languages, for years the church held these people at arms length
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now he's try to embrace them. afghan refugees crossing through europe and telling us here at al jazeera that they are having to zika sigh lum in italy because it's too hard to do so now in germany. germany so far send the most refugees of european countries but it's tightening up its border controls forcing many to take a new route in to northern italy from slovenia. lawrence lee reports from the italy-slow convenient request boarder. >> reporter: this part of italy huh been entirely b bypassed by the refugee who headed north. or right to left on this picture. passing in to slovenia. now there are hundreds trying to prove their value to italy. they are taught italian while their asylums are assessed. they can cook food and some have limited freedoms why while the
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authorities decide what to make of them. some of them got to germany and found it impossible to penetrate. so they turned around and came back to italy. >> when i went to germany i saw like 300 people there. they were giving us food and all that stuff. but i sorry, it was very busy. and one month nobody could -- came -- nobody came to us and asked us anything. >> reporter: the wisdom is that sear januaries, iraqs and afghans are the ones to get priority. but many say it doesn't work like that in practice. afghans and pakistanis have told thousands they tried to go to germany too seek asylum only to find the authorities offering preferential treatment to syrians based on that knowledge a growing number it seems are deciding to turn left at slovenia rather than going straight on and are seeking asylum in italy even stead. in villages where the center are they complain there are as many afghan as as italians.
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they are lobbying authorities to spread around and not alarm the hrofls. >> it provides a chance of integration, of learning the language, getting in touch, getting acquainted with the territory and society they are going to live in. >> reporter: gradually, groups like doctors without borders are ramping up their presence, the refugees talk on facebook with their friends further back advising them of their options. asylum claims here can be process ed in four months, not even the germans are so efficient. >> they will be invited by the police to go for medical screening and after that, to be invited to the place where they will formalize the residency request. >> reporter: with spring coming italy could find itself with refugees arriving on the mediterranean route on the south and from the balkan route in the north. even more pressure, el even more people. laurence lee, al jazeera. the colombian government
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confirmed that more than 5,000 pregnant women have been infected by the zika try srus, efforts to stop the spread of the virus have been stepped enough brazil where the army has began a public awareness campaign, more than 200,000 troops have been handed out leaflets advising people on irradicating breeding grounds where mosquitoes transmit the disease. prints your own money might seem a risky way to solve poverty but some communities in kenya are giving it a go. they are vouchers, not real real money are printed on special paper with ultraviolet ink, cathery soi explains how it works. she's in nairobi. >> reporter: these are traders in a township at the edge of kenya's capital nairobi. car washes, vegetable sellers, food stall owners are being introduce today a new community currency. >> translator: only traders registered with the grassroots association running the scheme
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can use it. >> reporter: the association issues for free 200 vouchers, equivalent to about $2 to each business taking part. the project coordinator say that the vouchers allow traders to save their kenyan currency and cushion themselves in difficult financial times. >> this is actually a currency that really promotes the community. but if they have less kenyan shillings they use the community currency so that they can be able to access goods and services that they need to be used at home. >> reporter: here is how it works, after selling her chili bites, she can go if a shop that accepts the vouchers. she buys bread using both her hard currency and the voucher. joseph the shop keeper can then buy vegetables for his family from the stall next door using the same voucher. they must use a combination of the kenyan schilling and the vouchers. >> translator: i started by buying three-kilos of potatoes.
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now i can buy a sack to last me for a week. i also get a lot of customers because if you are in this network, you cannot go and buy anywhere else. you have to look for me. >> reporter: to get these vouchers, you must have a business, either a shop, a restaurant, a vegetable store, have a product, or service that can benefit the next trader. but many people here say they cannot afford to own a business. they find themselves excluded from the scheme as they have barely enough money to feed their families let alone start a business. but it's a concept that has worked in other developing countries like brazil and south africa. >> it takes a lot of time for them to understand how these vouchers work in the community. so that one has been a challenge. so people look at the vouchers that we have, they think it's just money, it's just pieces of paper. >> reporter: those that use the local currency vouchers say that even if they are only accepted in small designated neighborhoods, they have their
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uses. telling us she is now able to save money and expand her business one colorful bill at a time. catherine soi, al jazeera, nairobi. u.s. state of florida is dealing with an influx of an unwelcomed visitor the famous everglades. burmese pythons have moved in and now there is a campaign to try to get rid of them. andy gallagher reports from florida. >> reporter: ozzie gonzales makes his living guiding tourists through the everglades national park, but his relationship with the area runs much deeper. he grew up here and saw his first burmese python as a child,, but their population is thought to have exploded since then. >> we are never going to win the battle. but it's -- at least if we can keep the numbers down we will have some type of control. >> reporter: officials estimate their numbers in the thousands and say the threat to this delicate ecosystem is very real. >> they are unstoppable. and they are so quiet and so
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deadly that we can be sitting here and not even know that he could be sitting inside these willows. you'll never see them. you walk through that brush and you are going to keep walking until you stop step on one. >> reporter: now wildlife officials issue hunting license to his people like leo sanchez in hope that the python numbers can be brought under control. over the past few years he's captured almost 80. but he bears the scars. >> i have respect for they. i love them. i like to dance with them. but after that bite, i realize that if i would have been alone that day that python would have bit me where it bit me, i probably wouldn't have made. >> reporter: when the first of these sanctioned hunts began it attracted around fine hundred people from 38 different states. but wildlife officials say it's not about the number of burmese pie thongs captured and killed it's about raising awareness of what is now considered one of florida's most ingress i have, invasive species. education programs have been running in florida for a few years now as the threat from the pythons as grown.
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some remain skeptical but a reptile so suit today the state's subtropical climate can ever be completely irradicated. andy gallagher, al jazeera in the florida everglades. and not so hard to swallow all the news at aljazeera.com. >> welcome to 101 east, i'm steve chao. after giving birth in china, many new mothers and their babies spend weeks behind closed doors in an age old tradition known as confinement. strict rules govern this ns

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